


A Second Time Around

by EmeraldTulip



Category: Andi Mack (TV)
Genre: Falling In Love, Falling In Love Again, Future Fic, Love Confessions, M/M, past tense love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-18
Updated: 2019-02-18
Packaged: 2019-10-30 18:02:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,160
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17833451
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmeraldTulip/pseuds/EmeraldTulip
Summary: "I was in love with you, you know."It's a confession a long time in the making. Cyrus hopes it'll be easy, quick, and over with. But of course, the universe never makes it that simple for him.





	A Second Time Around

**Author's Note:**

  * For [carterhack](https://archiveofourown.org/users/carterhack/gifts), [theliteraltrash](https://archiveofourown.org/users/theliteraltrash/gifts).



> sup yall, I saw the ep where Cyrus comes out to Jonah and got emo so here you go  
> it is set in the future, Cyrus is a junior in high school and Jonah is a senior. strap in kids this is a wild ride in very few words.  
> oh im also gifting it to Carter bc I can. also to Mary and Soren too. love yall. yah.  
> enjoy!

“I was in love with you, you know.”

The words tumble out from his mouth far more easily than he thought they would—maybe because the passage of time has dulled the shock of the fact to him, or perhaps because he’s kept it a secret for so long he can’t anymore.

He listens to Jonah’s steady pen scratch to a stop. He can’t meet his eyes. “Oh?” Jonah says.

Cyrus can’t help but huff out a breathy, sheepish laugh as he toys with the already-folded corner of his calculus worksheet. “Yeah. A couple years back. I just. Thought you should know.”

“A couple years back,” Jonah repeats. There’s something weird in his tone, but Cyrus doesn’t want to risk looking him in the face even to look at his expression. He doesn’t know why he can’t look. “So… not now? Not anymore?”

“Not anymore,” Cyrus echoes in agreement. “Don’t worry, I’m over it.” He’s about to reassure Jonah that this doesn’t have to change anything, doesn’t mean anything, when Jonah interrupts him.

“Why?”

And that— _that_ is what floors him. Not the pace of his confession, not the relatively easy acceptance he’d faced—no, what strikes him is Jonah’s fumbling, hesitant _why_. Because what on Earth could that possibly mean?

“Why—why was I in love with you?” He laughs, maybe a little more bitterly than he would have liked, finally meeting his friend’s gaze. “Because you’re… you’re _incredible_ , Jonah. You’re nice and you’re smart and you’re an amazing person, and when we became friends, you were all I think I had ever really wanted.”

“No,” Jonah says quietly, and his tone is so… _not_ Jonah. 

Cyrus must look confused, because Jonah rushes to continue his sentence.

“No,” he says again, and he seems to squirm uncomfortably under Cyrus’ stare. “I… why are you over it?”

Strike what he said before, Cyrus is officially deceased. “Wh—I mean…” He shakes his head, trying to piece together a thought. “Because… I guess, I had to move on because _you_ kept moving.” Then, something clicks. “Wait. Do you… are you _disappointed_?”

Jonah doesn’t answer, eyes dropping to the chewed tip of his pen.

To Cyrus, this feels like a non-answer, and that’s enough to make his blood boil. “Jonah, did you _want_ me to be hurt all the time? Did you _want_ me to… to _pine_ after you while I got nothing out of it?” A sudden, horrible realization strikes him, and he feels something cold lodge in his throat. “Jonah…” He swallows. “ _Do_ you not want me to be over it?”

Jonah still won’t look at him. “I don’t know.”

“What do you _mean_ , you don’t know?” Cyrus presses. “I didn’t want to be stuck being upset about you all the time, and now you wish we were right back at square one?”

“No!” Jonah explodes, bringing his palm down onto the table with a bang. Cyrus jumps and Jonah closes his eyes, fingers curling into a fist on the tabletop. “I’m sorry,” Jonah finally says. “That’s… that’s not what I meant. At all.” He looks up at Cyrus and Cyrus sees his hand twitch, like he’d thought about reaching out but reconsidered at the last moment. “This is just. Confusing.”

“Why would it be confusing?” Cyrus doesn’t understand it. “It makes perfect sense to me. I liked you, you didn’t, I don’t like you anymore, we’re friends now. We don’t have to talk about it or anything, okay?”

“But I _want_ to talk about it,” Jonah says. “I’m sorry, I didn’t say what I meant before.” He sighs, clicking his pen a few times, a nervous tick. “I didn’t mean to imply that I… that I wanted you to still be torn up about any of this. I just.” He shakes his head. “I don’t know. When you said you were over it, I guess my immediate thought was… well, _what if I don’t want you to be?_ And that’s scary, because I know I didn’t mean it in a way that would hurt you. I meant it in a… selfish way, I guess.”

“Jonah,” Cyrus starts hesitantly, mind spinning. “You’re not selfish. But no offense, I don’t get it.”

Jonah laughs dryly, but there’s still a nervous glint in his eye. “Yeah. Sorry. I didn’t make that clear enough.” His pen clicking intensifies, and Cyrus reaches out to gently take his thumb away from the end. Jonah lets him, but as Cyrus goes to pull away, Jonah grabs his hand.

“Jonah,” Cyrus starts, but Jonah cuts him off.

“Cyrus,” he mimics. “I guess I get it if you’re over me. But I maybe sort of like you. Currently. Now.”

“Oh.” He doesn’t know what he wants to say.

“I know,” Jonah says, mouth pressed into a flat line as he lets his hand drop back to the table. “I get it, you’re over me. That’s fine. I’m sorry, I’m not there yet. But I will be. I’ll get over you if that’s what you want.”

Cyrus scrutinizes him for a minute. He’s not in love with Jonah anymore—that cool and popular frisbee kid he was when they first met. He knows that.

And yet.

Cyrus looks at this boy, this sweet, kind, beautiful teenager he’s grown up to be. This isn’t the same Jonah he fell in and out of love with. This is someone entirely new, and this is someone Cyrus really, really likes right now. And if Cyrus wasn’t so terrified of admitting it, he might let himself consider the possibility that those feelings had been there for longer than he’d realized.

Jonah must take his silence as rejection, because he stands abruptly. “Sorry,” he says again. “I’ll leave you alone for a bit.”

Cyrus sees the next few seconds in slow motion. Jonah turns to leave, face carefully controlled, and then Cyrus sees it—devastation, so recognizable as a mirror image of what expression he himself used to wear around Jonah.

“Wait,” he says, and Jonah stops and looks at him from over his shoulder. Cyrus can’t stop his heart from doing a funny little rhythm when Jonah smiles at him, a little cracked and hesitant

But Cyrus sees something else in that smile, something he never would have recognized a few years ago:

Hope. Jonah looks hopeful.

And hell, if Cyrus doesn’t love him.

“Let’s talk,” he says, instead of letting words he doesn’t understand erupt from his mouth. “We should… talk. I meant it when I said I did get over you. But… maybe there’s a second time around.”

“Yeah?” Jonah eyes almost shine, and Cyrus is more and more confident in this decision every second.

He nods.

“Okay,” Jonah grins, setting his bag back down and sliding back into his chair. His expression is bright and warm, still a little broken, but then again, that’s what Cyrus has always loved about him.

“Okay,” he says, and it feels like coming home.

**Author's Note:**

> as always, comments and/or kudos are appreciated! I would love to hear some feedback from you guys. hope you enjoyed!  
> find me on tumblr [@he-lives-on-mirkwood](https://he-lives-on-mirkwood.tumblr.com)  
> 


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